Mounting debts force children of Erbil family to exit school

SORAN, Kurdistan Region - When one of their children, Ghambar Hiwa Anwar, fell ill over three years ago, the financial situation of a family in Erbil province’s Soran district changed completely, leading to growing debts, pushing the other children to drop out of school. 

Life became harder for a family of seven in the Qandil area of Soran when doctors discovered that Hiwa Anwar’s eldest son, 23-year-old Ghambar, suffered from inflamed lymph nodes and a brain tumor. 

A few years ago, the sickness of one of their sons, coupled with the big expenses for his treatment, shut off all routes of joy for the family.

Hiwa took his son to doctors in Iran, where luckily he was cured, but the treatment and surgeries have left him indebted. 

The father, who serves as a Peshmerga, said that he is still paying back the medical bills from his son's treatment, which has taken up the majority of his salary over the past three years.

“Three or four years ago, my son fell ill, so I took him to Iran for treatment. I borrowed a lot of money to treat my son,” Hiwa Anwar told Rudaw’s Andam Jabar on Sunday.

“Indeed if someone comes and visits to help us, even if the help is 250 Iraqi dinars, it will not be lost to God.”

“We don't have a single [Iraqi] dinar in our house during the month of Ramadan while we are fasting. My children ask me for things, but our financial situation was so bad that we took them out of school because we could not provide them with anything,” Anwar’s wife, Shakrin Jawhar, said. 

The family accumulated significant debts to treat their son, but now, further medical treatment which they cannot afford is required. Poverty has compelled them to withdraw all five of their children from school.

Living in a very old and worn-out house, the family finds it hard to pay their monthly rent of 100,000 Iraqi dinars ($76).